The Earthwave Global Surf Challenge, an initiative created to showcase the global surfing community and its environmental concerns, has been endorsed by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the Surfrider Foundation, two organisations who promote surfing and environmental concerns worldwide.

“The International Surfing Association (ISA), the world’s governing body for the sport of surfing and bodyboarding, would like to offer its support of the 2007 Earthwave Global Surf Challenge,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre in a letter to Dene Botha of the Kahuna Surfing Academy (KSA) who masterminded the Earthwave project.

“Working for the conservation and improvement of coastal environments and the protecting of surfing resources worldwide is an ISA objective,” Aguerre continued, “Raising awareness of global warming is a key component in protecting our coastal environment, which is why the ISA would like to support this important event.”

The President of the 52 nation body that is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) went on to wish the Earthwave organisers the best of luck with the Guinness World Record attempts and the impact the event will have in raising awareness about global warming.

Similarly, Gustavo Huici, Executive Director of the Argentina Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, thanked the KSA for organising Earthwave.

“The Surfrider Foundation Board of Directors supports, through collaboration with partner organizations, efforts to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas-causing emissions,” said Huici in his letter, quoting the body’s Policy on Global Warming, which can be found at www.surfrider.org/policy_gw.asp

Surfrider Foundation Argentina is running two attempts on the Guinness World Record for the most surfers riding one wave simultaneously in Mar del Plata as part of Earthwave’s publicity generating project to raise awareness of Global Warming and to issue a ‘call to action’ on how to reduce our impact on climate change.

“We are honoured to receive this support from such revered international bodies,” said long serving watersports promoter Paul Botha, adding “We look forward to collaborating with these and other organisations with similar aims and objectives in developing Earthwave into an annual event where surfers on every coastline on the planet can demonstrate their environmental concerns on the first Sunday in September annually.”

The inaugural edition of the Earthwave Global Surf Challenge will be staged on Sunday 2 September 2007 starting on the Gold Coast of Australia and followed by events on Reunion Island; in Cape Town, South Africa; Polzeath Beach, England; Santos, Brazil; Mar del Plata, Argentina and ending 20 hours later at Papara in Tahiti.